I want to begin by reading again
verse 6. This is our text. Romans 11 and
6. And if by grace, and if by grace,
then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. The title What
I want us to think about is this, and if by grace, if by grace,
if salvation, if salvation is entirely all of grace, then,
that little word then in our text, tells us there are some
sure consequences of that. If salvation is of grace, and
that's what we're told throughout the word of God, There are some
definite, not some ambiguous, unidentifiable things, uncertain
things, wishy-washy things, though there are some certain definite
consequences to this blessed fact, this truth. It is truth,
but it's a fact as well. First, first, there's only three
things we want to consider, and there are so many more, but first,
One short consequence, if salvation's by grace alone is this, and Paul
tells us, it's the first thing that he speaks of, then it is
no more of works. Aren't you glad of that, Billy
Cobb? Because it's not the labors of
your hands? that can fulfill God's holy laws
demands? Could my zeal, no respite, no? Could my tears forever flow? All these combined for sin could
not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone,
and when he saves, it's purely on the footing of God's free
grace. Then Paul tells us, here's a
sure consequence, and a happy one for God's believing people,
It's no more of works. It has to be all of one. Now,
we're taught that especially here but throughout God's Word.
Salvation is either all man's doing or all God's doing. Salvation is either all God's
work or all man's work. Salvation is a matter of God's
free grace or man's free will. It can't be both. It can't even
be just a little bit of both. It can't be mostly grace and
just a little bit of man's works. Oh, no, no. Works have got to
go. This is what Paul tells us in
our text. Common sense. Common sense. I'm kind of reluctant to use
that in this context, but common sense would seem to dictate that
to be so. that it can't be both. But when
it comes to anything, now men would demonstrate, now we know
some folks that are identified or known as not having any common
sense, but most folks, when it comes to anything but God's word,
when it comes to worldly things, they demonstrate, they exercise
some common sense, you know. I mean, it's just common sense. Except when it comes to God's
Word, then common sense just flies out the window and people
just become complete idiots. Ignorant, ignoramuses concerning
the Word of God. And I say that Sincerely, but
it's true because Paul says the natural man, the lost man, the
unregenerated man, that man who's not born again, he cannot see
the things of God. He can't understand them. You
can buttonhole him and pin him in a corner and he just might,
for argument's sake, say, okay, I see that and go on his way
just to get you off his back, but he cannot see. The Lord told
Nicodemus, that teacher of teachers, Nicodemus, you don't have a clue. Like Donny Vale said, you're
like a calf looking at a new gate, scratching your head and
saying, I just can't get a hold of that. The natural man can't
unless God Almighty does for him what he can't do. Paul said
what God did for him. He was steeped in religion. He
was eat up with tradition. He would do anything to maintain
and uphold the traditions of his fathers until that day on
the Damascus Road, God Almighty turned the light on and he saw
Jesus Christ the only way to God and Saul of Tarsus was never
the same after that. I hear people say things like
this. These are religious folks that
usually say this. And you hear it all the time.
They'll say something like, well, yes, I believe salvation is by
grace, but... Whoa, now, Bobby, when they throw
that but in, you say, uh-oh, uh-oh, they're just about to
contradict the words that just came out of their mouth. Yes,
I believe salvation is by grace, but God still gives everybody
a chance. Now, how many times have you
heard that? God gives everybody a chance. Salvation by chance? Nothing's by chance, but especially
something as wondrous, as glorious, as mighty as God's salvation
by chance. I've heard people tell me this
all the time, hear it all the time. God's doing all he can
do to save everybody. Because if he didn't, it wouldn't
be fair. Now, you've heard that, haven't
you? If God doesn't give everybody a chance, then he's not fair.
So God Almighty's doing all he can do to save everybody in the
world. Jesus died for everybody. The
Holy Spirit's trying to convict everybody. So then why aren't
they saved? Those statements are contrary
to what Paul says here, as contrary as they could possibly be. Because
first, as we said, salvation is not by chance. Salvation is
the result of a deliberate determination by God Almighty. Ain't that right,
Billy? It's not by chance. God purposed
to save a people. God determined to save a people. Before the world was, God said,
I will have mercy. I'm determined to have mercy.
Nothing's going to stop me from having mercy, and I'm going to
choose the people that I'll have mercy on. Now, the free will
will gnash his teeth, and his neck will turn red with that.
But it's still true according to the word of God. And real
sinners in need of real grace from a real Savior rejoice to
hear that. Quote Romans 9, 16, where God
said, well Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.
And I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. Like it's
the bad thing. It leaves a bad taste in their
mouth. Oh no, we should rejoice when
we quote that verse. We should say hallelujah when
we think about that. God will have mercy. God Almighty's
determined to have mercy. God's gonna have mercy on sinners. A multitude of sinners that shall
experience God's amazing grace and mercy. Nothing can stop that. I find that delightful. I found
that to be good news. Listen to what Paul wrote in
2 Timothy 1 and 9. God, God who has saved us and
called us with the holy calling not according to our works. That's
what Paul said in our text. Not according to our works but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. That makes it sound pretty
conclusive to me. Sounds like God saves people
by grace alone, on purpose, his own eternal purpose. Well, people
argue about that. Of course, it's because they
don't know what they're talking about, but I just want to ask
them, how else could God do it? Pete, if God doesn't save people
on purpose, how does he do it? I mean, does he do like me? I
wake up in the morning and I think about something that I didn't
think about the night before. Billy, I want to do something
today. I didn't think about doing it yesterday, but now I've got
a new idea, so I think I'll do it. Is that how God acts? I mean, he has a new idea? He
thinks it's something he never thought of before? I mean, how
ignorant is that? That represents God as being
like me. Oh no, God has from eternity. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Whatever God determined to do
today, whatever he does today, since he's that God that cannot
change, not for the better or for the worse, he changes not,
hence he must have determined to do that before that day. Before
that day, back to the before the foundation of the world.
And that's exactly what Paul wrote to Timothy, who has saved
us and called us not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace. I like that much better than
man's work, or man's will, or man's worth. That sounds better
to me than salvation by chance, salvation on purpose, God's purpose. Oh, his own eternal purpose. God says, that's how I save people.
That's how I save people. If I save Larry Criss, I'm determined
to save Larry Criss. I do it on purpose. My eternal
purpose and everything that's involved in bringing that about,
God purposed it in his son before he even created the world. I
like that, whether men do or not. Isn't it sad? I drove by that church this morning
twice because I forgot my notes and had to go back and get them.
And man, the parking lot was just full. And I told Robin the
first time when she was with me, I said, oh, wouldn't it be
wonderful if our parking lot looked like that? It was full
and the place was packed, but people don't want to hear the
gospel according to God's free grace. They want to hear the
gospel, so-called gospel, that's based upon man's merit and man's
will. Oh, no, we won't do that. We
won't do that. We won't compromise that. That
dishonors God. And my second point will be,
we've not got to yet, that message really, in reality, gives sinners
no hope whatsoever. Oh, but this message of God's
certain, free grace, that gives a sinner hope. As I said, some
people don't like it. They actually hate it because
they think they're saved by what? Their works. Their works. Now you kick their props out
from under them and see how ticked off they get at you. They might
be your daughter. They might be your daughter's
husband. They might be your grandchildren. But you kick their religious
props out from under them and I guarantee you they're not going
to like it. They're not going to like it.
Things can change in a hurry. But God's purpose according to
election stands whether people like it or not. Unless God Almighty
performs a miracle, giving us grace and light, giving us a
new nature, we will never sing such a hymn as this and mean
it from the heart. Oh to grace, how great a debtor. It will be what I did. You ever
hear people in those, I remember you've probably been in them.
Churches have testimony meetings. You know, things are going kind
of slow, so the pastor just begs, would somebody testify? Please
somebody, would somebody please, I mean it's as dry as a bone
and he's done spun out with what he had to say, wasn't worth hearing
anyway, so how about somebody just pop it up and just testify. and these so-called testimonies
is just bragging on themselves, what they did for God. Well,
I'm so glad that I saw my need, and I opened my heart, and I
let Jesus come in, and I don't regret it, and I'm gonna live
for Him because I'm determined to do so. And everybody said,
well, that's, well, hallelujah, God bless your brother. And all
they did was stand there, one worm bragging on another worm.
God doesn't bless that. Oh, no, no, no. We don't sing,
oh, to us. God owes us a debt. Oh, no, no.
We owe him a debt. God didn't have to save Larry
Criss. He didn't have to do it. As a
matter of fact, I can't see any reason why he would. I cannot
see any reason. Everything in me is an argument
why he should not see. He should have passed me by.
I was a God-hating, Christ-rejecting rebel. And I was determined there
was nothing in this world gonna change that. Huh? If I'd been left to myself, I'd
have been in hell this morning. If I'd have been left alone,
I'd have left this world in darkness and been entered into everlasting
darkness except for the grace of God. But when it pleased God,
that's when a sinner is saved. Let's give God the glory for
this. As much as the world rejects
it and hates it, that's all the more reason to keep preaching
it. Give God the glory. Great thing He has done. Salvation
is of the Lord. And sinners that need grace are
glad to hear that, whether men like it or not. Paul in our text,
in this chapter, throughout the Word of God, he just knocks man's
work's plum out of the saddle, doesn't he? Just gives it a good
slap upside the head. because it's not so. They hated
Paul and they hated the gospel he preached. Can you imagine
that Pharisee that day our Lord talked about? He spoke this parable
to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. Those things just about always
go hand in hand. Self-righteousness always despises
others. Self-righteousness always looks
down at self-righteousness and says, oh, I'm better than you.
Every time. Well, that was the Pharisee.
There he goes up to the temple to pray. And he's got his long
flowing robes. his broad phylacteries because
he wanted to be seen of men. So he found him a prominent place
in the temple. He stood there with a loud voice. Thank you, God, that I'm not
like other men because I did this and I did that and I did
the other. And then there's this lowly,
hated, despised publican, a tax collector. Can you picture that
man? He's rare because he's lost. He's lost. He needs mercy. He knows the only thing that's
going to help him is God's mercy. And he knows he doesn't deserve
God's mercy. He can't stand there with the
Pharisee and claim anything except his sin. And all he does with
the heart bursting with sincerity and conviction, old-fashioned
conviction of sin, he smites upon his heart. That's where
the problem is. It's not out here. It's here.
And he says, God, God, God, be merciful to me. I'm the sinner. Can you imagine the hate? The
hate. that rose in that Pharisee's
heart when Jesus Christ says, listen to me, I'm telling you,
not that Pharisee, but that publican, look at him, he's going home
justified. Huh? He had nothing to pay, nothing
to claim, nothing to demand. He only begged for mercy, and
he's going home with mercy. He's going home justified. I
can almost see him, can't you? I mean, there's that Pharisee
gnashing his self-righteous teeth when he heard those words. How
can that publican be justified? I don't believe it. There's a
mistake here. Surely God'll take notice of
all these things that I've done, all the sacrifices that I've
made, and now he says that publican's going home justified. Ooh, I
bet he held his ears, because that publican skips out of the
temple saying, oh, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner
saved by grace. This is my story. Hey, Mr. Farrisee, are you hearing this?
This is my story, that God be the glory. I'm only a sinner. Saved by grace. Listen to the Lord himself speak.
This is the purpose that he has purposed upon the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who shall disannul it if God had his way? And his hand
is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Again, the prophet
Isaiah. I am the Lord, chapter 43, verse
11. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides
me there is no Savior. I have declared and I have saved
and I have showed. When there was no strange God
among you, therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord that
I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he. And there is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? I will work and who's going to
undo it? Who's going to hinder it? Who's
going to stop it? Listen to what Paul wrote in
Ephesians 1 concerning God. Having made known the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed
in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." Wow! So now when you hear people talk
about if God had his way, I don't know who they're talking
about. I don't know who they think God is, but that's not
the God of Scripture. He has his way. Brother Henry
Mahan, in his Bible class commentary, said this on Romans 11 and 6.
Salvation is by the pure, unmerited grace and mercy of God. The works,
the efforts, and the deeds of men are not involved. If salvation
comes to us because of our works, however small, then it is not
a grace. If you can find any reason why
God should save you other than that by his grace in Christ,
he was pleased to show mercy, then you are advocating salvation
by works. God forbid. God forbid. I may
have told you this. One time, many years ago, I was
visiting in Danville, probably preaching, but I was staying
with Larry Dale, and my granddaughters were young at the time. And I
just kind of popped in and announced, I'm Paul Paul, I don't have to
make a formal announcement. I ought to be able to go see
them grandbabies anytime I want to, right Bobby? Shouldn't need
an invitation. But anyway, I just popped in.
And Laura, the oldest one, she wasn't seven or eight at the
time, I was talking to her and I knew she seemed a little agitated.
They had a birthday party to go to. They were going to their
friend's birthday party, and it was almost time to leave the
house to go. And she came up and whispered
in my ear, and she said, Pawpaw, if you don't leave before it's
time for us to go to our friend's birthday party, mommy's going
to kick you out. Mommy's going to give you the
boot. Grace kicks works out. Grace gives works the boot. It
kicks it out. It kicks it plum out. Grace and
works will never share in the salvation of a sinner. They will
never come to any terms. There will never be an agreement.
between the two, oh no, not unto us. This is the song of a redeemed
sinner. Others can sing about man's will
and man's merit and man's work and what he deserves, but a saved
sinner that has truly experienced God's amazing free grace will
say, not unto us, oh Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Old Ralph Barnard
made this statement. Preachers are wrapping salvation
up in a neat little package and selling it to unsuspecting men
and women, sneaking up on their blind side like ambulance-chasing
lawyers. Preachers are trying to present
the great mysteries of redemption in a language which the natural
man can understand and approve of. Imagine that. So that he
can make his peace with God and go on about his regular routine
and fleshly pursuits and we all know some. If we'd be honest,
we all know some. Far too many. They confess Christ
with their lips but their heart is far from Him and they prove
it day in and day out by their fleshly, the world is in their
heart. Someone once said, The day is
coming, said this many years ago, that day has arrived when
there will be a Christianity without Christ. Huh? Sound like the day, doesn't it?
Christianity without Christ, salvation without grace. Conversion without the need of
the Holy Spirit. Man does it all in this so-called
salvation. But after everything he does,
what does he have left? What's he left with? A false
hope. It's a false hope not founded
on God's free grace. This morning, this morning, I
came in the living room and sat down. I was looking over my notes
and I glanced up and the blind that the door was up about this
high so Festus can look out and see what's happening. And I said,
Robin, somebody's left a gift. It looks like a gift on the front
porch. She said, what do you mean? I said, well, it's out
there. And she went out and picked it up. And sure enough, the neighbor's
grandchildren were in. And they wrapped up this little
bundle, nice and pretty, and opened the card. And it said,
from unknown to unknown, or something like that. And it said, we just
wanted you to know that God loves you. And Jesus Christ loves you
unconditionally. That's a lie. That's a lie. Because if God loves everyone,
I guess they might have been putting them little things all
over Logan Street, but if God loves everybody, everybody's
going to be saved. Right, Billy? If God loves everybody,
God's gonna save everybody. God's not gonna love somebody
and then throw them into hell. Do you know that in the New Testament,
you go through the book of Acts and the epistles, not one time,
not one time, Did the apostles, Peter, James, John, Paul, Jesus
Christ, one time did they tell sinners indiscriminately, God
loves you, God loves everybody, God's got a wonderful plan for
your life. Not one time. It's not in the word of God.
Oh, no, God loves his people. He loves them unconditionally.
But just to go out and tell sinners, God loves you, God's got a wonderful
plan for your life. I wonder if Moses had that on
a plate on the back of the ark when he was riding above the
waves and those people were going down drowning and seen on the
back of the ark. Well, God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life. Oh, God saved me from such love
that sees me going to hell and won't do nothing to stop it.
What kind of love is that? Oh no, if God loves me, if God
loves me, He chose me. And Christ died for me. And the
Holy Spirit called me out of darkness and gave me a new heart,
a new nature. And He keeps me from falling. He loves me and He'll prove His
love for me when He presents me without fault before the throne
of God Almighty. Now that's love. That's love. That's an everlasting love. My
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. And we all have this experience,
don't we? You may be having it right now,
when darkness veils his lovely face. I rest on his unchanging grace,
and every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil. That anchor enters within the
veil, and it's chained to eternal rock of ages. The Lord said,
therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for
a foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. Believers
are standing on that foundation that God has laid and not man,
and it's Jesus Christ himself, the rock on which his church
is built, and that's the reason the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. We stand on that one who stood
as our surety, the surety of his people from all eternity. We're standing with that one
of whom it was said, all things that are written of him shall
be accomplished. Where he's standing, oh, can
you by faith see him? Just a glimpse of him, it'll
refresh your heart. It'll lift you up, it'll encourage
you. There stands our Redeemer in sovereign majesty. ruling
all things, not trying to have his way, ruling all things with
absolute authority, having been given all power over all flesh
in heaven and in earth. There he stands, my great God
and Savior, right now interceding for his redeemed before the throne
of God. willing that all those that the
Father gave him be with him where he is, and what do you reckon
will be the outcome of that intercession? Behold, behold, I beheld a great
multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, You don't hear a note of free
will here. Salvation to our God which setteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb. The second thing. If salvation is by grace, as
our text says, it's the only message that gives sinners any
real hope. You know that. You know that. Thank God that it's not of him
that willeth. because nobody would be saved. Well, preacher, you're saying
God saves people against their will. I did not. I did not. Christ
said, whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life
freely. But the problem is, ye will not come to me. So what's
the answer to that? My people shall be willing in
the day of my power. He makes us willing. He makes
us willing. William Cooper, Calper, but I
think Actually, it's pronounced Cooper. He wrote There Is A Fountain. That poor man suffered most of
his life from serious depression. He, on more than one occasion,
attempted to take his own life, and the last time he almost succeeded.
So they committed him to a mental institution. There was a relative,
a believer, that went to visit him. to try to tell him about
God's love and mercy and grace and the Lord Jesus' power to
save. Cowper Cooper said he just burst
into tears and he said, that's the first time, that's the first
time that I saw a ray of hope. That's the first time that I thought, can it be? Will
God save a sinner like me? When his relative left, Cooper
opened his Bible to Romans 3 and 25, speaking of Jesus Christ,
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood. And God spoke to his heart, and
Cooper believed. And he was so thrilled, so happy,
so amazed, that God saved him, right in that mental hospital.
He wrote that hymn from Zechariah 13 and 1. In that day, there
shall be a fountain opened up for sin and uncleanness. And
he said, oh, there is a fountain. There is a fountain. Man, I feel
like singing whether Delilah likes it or not, whether she'll
play for me or not. Oh, there is a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. and sinners plunged beneath
that flood lose all their guilty stains. I've got to wrap this up. Years ago there was a local newspaper
like most towns have and in their Sunday morning edition they got
the ad for a local car dealership mixed up with the churches of
the town's announcements of what's happening here this Sunday. Come and see. The ads got mixed
up and it came out like this. Jesus Christ at the lowest price
in years. Isn't that sad? Most churches
today are peddling Jesus Christ at the lowest price in years. You don't have to bow to his
lordship, just accept him as your savior. If he's too high
for you, we'll bring him down to meet your demands. Whatever
it takes to get a decision out of you, how dishonoring to God
Almighty. How dishonoring to Jesus Christ. Oh no, in answer to the question,
how can a man be just with God? There's only one answer. I wonder
if that question is even asked, if it's even put forward from
most pulpits today. I wonder if you went into every
church this morning, would anybody, would they hear the answer to
that question? They'd hear essays on social issues, politics, things
like this. But what about this preacher?
Can you tell me I'm a guilty, hell-deserving sinner? I'm as
lost as I can be. When a few more days are gone
of my brief existence here, this vapor is going to be snuffed
out and I'm going to stand before God Almighty. I don't care about
your social issues. Can you tell me how I can be
just with God? That's what I need to know. That's
what I want to know. Jesus Christ. God has set forth
Christ. the beat of propitiation for
our sins, that's how, the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference, being justified freely, I like that word, by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that
God might be just and justify the ungodly. I can just fall back into the
arms of Christ. I am His and He is mine. Yeah,
it's well with my soul. It's well with my soul. When
I was a young boy growing up in West Virginia, every now and
then at the insistence of my dear grandmother, my mother,
her daughter, would tell us, you're going to church. Going
to church. Go where mommy goes, where grandmother
goes. And so she'd round us up and
we'd go. This church building was owned
and operated by a self-righteous old woman. She covered up everything
but her eyeballs. Wouldn't own a TV, wouldn't wear
a wedding ring. She had a husband, that's another
story, makes you wonder. But she thought everything was
wrong. Everything was a sin. Her whole
religion consisted in this, touch not, taste not, wear not, go
not, smile not, laugh not, enjoy not. Now that's what I was exposed
to when I was a little boy, Pete. And I sat there thinking to myself,
these are a bunch of miserable people. And they want me to join
this outfit? There's no way. They're as unhappy,
as miserable as they can be. At the end of the service, so-called
service, the ladies would just seem like they knew without anybody
saying anything. They would rise from their pews
and start walking to the altar. They had an altar. And they would
be singing, have thine own way, Lord. You would think they were
going through their hanging. They look so sad, so miserable. I thought, my soul, if God has
his own way with you, it must be tough going. Not a word about
joy. What did our Lord say? Be of
good cheer. What did he say to Satan? Be
of good cheer. Go thy way. Be happy. Be happy. Be of good cheer. All of your
sins are forgiven you. You know the Lord blessed in
the psalm means happy? Happy. What a joy unspeakable
to know the bliss of this glorious thought. My sins not in part
but the whole are nailed to his cross and I bear them no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. Christ told his disciples,
in you and I, peace I leave with you. My peace give I unto you,
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The consequence of salvation
by grace is this, it gives a sinner hope. If by grace I can live
with that, if my salvation is dependent upon another, my Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, By His grace I'm kept. I live now and
shall live forever. Then I can live with that and
I can face eternity with that. Nothing else. And all the while
be thanking God that He chose this sinner to salvation. Until that day arrives when I
can thank Him in person, look Him right in the face, and thank
him with an unsending heart." Whoa! What a day. What a day. In 2019, on Christmas
Day, December 25th, I was up in Indiana at my son-in-law's
house, Brian. And I slipped away into the bedroom
and called my good friend, Don Fortner. He was spending Christmas
in a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. And we talked a while and I said,
Don, I'm sorry that you're spending Christmas away from home in a
hospital miles away. And I said, Don, I want you to
know, I want to tell you that I thank God that he made me your
friend and I've known you these many years." And I said, Don,
I'm going to miss you when you're gone. And I do. And he said, Larry, please don't
feel sorry for me. He said, God's been so good to
me. And if anyone should ask you
about me, you be sure to tell them that there is nothing sweeter
or of greater comfort than going out to face God knowing that
Jesus Christ has put away all my sins and I'm accepted in him. And a few months after that,
he was gone. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren. Beloved of the Lord, because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether
by word or epistle. Now the Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort
your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot
thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. Lord, haste the day when my face
shall be sight. The cloud shall be rolled back
as a scroll. The truck shall resound and the
Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. If salvation is of grace, yes,
it is well with my soul. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.